Another City Could Furl State Flag with Confederate Emblem

Another Mississippi city could stop flying the state flag because it features the Confederate battle emblem that critics see as racist.
Photo by Imani Khayyam.

MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) — Another Mississippi city could stop flying the state flag because it features the Confederate battle emblem that critics see as racist.

Meridian Mayor Percy Bland tells The Meridian Star he thinks the flag is "divisive" in a state with a 38 percent black population.

He says the City Council could discuss removing the flag from display on municipal property when it meets Sept. 19.

All eight of Mississippi's public universities and several cities and counties have stopped flying the flag because of concerns about the Confederate emblem.

WTOK-TV reports a small group protested the flag Monday outside the Lauderdale County Courthouse in Meridian. Organizer Dennis Allen said the flag represents "high treason" by Southern states that tried to secede before the Civil War.